Diego Costa sparked Atlético Madrid's exhilarating 2-1 comeback at Athletic Bilbao, while Lionel Messi converted a late penalty to keep Barcelona one point behind the Spanish league leaders with a contentious 1-0 win at local rivals Espanyol. Costa's 25th goal in the league this season cancelled out Iker Muniaín's sixth-minute opener, and Koke followed up with a 55th-minute header to record a fifth straight win and keep Atlético on course in their search for a first league title since 1996. Messi made sure Barça stayed right behind by slotting in a penalty for his 23rd league goal in the 77th minute when the Espanyol defender Javi López handled in the area.Kiko Casilla was also sent off for Espanyol with seven minutes left to play. Atlético and Barça are set to meet in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night at Camp Nou.Real Madrid remain in third after a 5-0 win at home to Rayo Vallecano. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring before Daniel Carvajal, two from Gareth Bale and a sumptuous finish from Alvaro Morata secured the win.

Stadium claims third life

Another construction worker has died while helping to build the São Paulo stadium that will host the opening match of this year's World Cup in Brazil, the third to perish while working on the Arena Corinthians on the outskirts of São Paulo and the seventh to die in building Brazil's World Cup arenas. Fabio Hamilton da Cruz fell about 25 feet to his death on Saturday morning, said a spokesperson for the Santa Marcelina hospital where he was taken. He was installing floors on the temporary stands being constructed at the ground that will host the Brazil-Croatia opener on 12 June, Corinthians said in a statement.

Bayern lose Alcântara

Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcântara will be out for six to eight weeks after suffering an extended partial ligament tear in his right knee. The club says the Spaniard will miss both Champions League quarter-final games against Manchester United, with the first leg at Old Trafford on Tuesday, and the semi-finals should Bayern progress. The Bayern coach, Pep Guardiola, said: "It's bad news. We're going to miss him a lot." Alcântara suffered the injury in the first half of the Bundesliga champions' 3-3 draw at home with Hoffenheim. An MRI scan later confirmed the extent of the injury.